Brassiere breast pockets



J. VERREAULT BRASSIERE BREAST POCKETS 7 Dec. 16, 1958 Filed June 18, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Due/law Jake viz reazzlt 1 1% I 6. flzd'arweys Dec. 16, 1958 J VERREAULT 2,864,374

I BRASSIERE BREAST POCKETS Filed June 18,- 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Unitfid sates BRASSIERE BREAST POCKETS Application June 18, 1956, Serial No. 592,197 7 Claims. (Cl. 128 483) This invention relates to improvements in brassieres and more particularly to contour moulding of the breast pockets along the inner edges thereof.

The particular object of this invention is to provide the inner marginal edges of the breast pockets of a brassiere with co-extensive breast moulding bands which are secured substantially along the length of the inner edges of the pockets so as to provide contour moulding of each breast pocket along its inner edge independently of the contour moulding of the other breast pocket.

Another object is to provide a novel overlapping arrangement of the contour or breast moulding band'and associated portions of one breast pocket and the contour or breast moulding band and associated portions'of the other breast pocket to permit freedom of movement of the one relative to the other.

Heretofore, certain conventional brassieres have been constructed without means for controlling the contour of the inner edges of the breast pockets, thereby permitting gapping or bulging of the inner edges of the breast pockets during body movements such as turning or bending forwardly. Certain others have been constructed in an attempt to overcome its defect but for the most part such attempts have created other discomforts, mainly causing a more or less permanent binding stress which creates excessive discomfort to the wearer.

' The present invention proposes to overcome all of the disadvantages apparent in the conventional brassieres by the novel arrangement of breast contour or moulding bandsassociated with each breast pocket along the inner edge thereof in a manner hereinafter more fully described.

Proceeding now to a more detailed description, reference will be' had tothe accompanying drawings in which: I

Fig. 1 is aperspective view of a brassiere embodying this invention. 5 v

Fig. 2 is afragmentary view enlarged of a central portion of'the brassiere shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but with certain elements removed for sake of clarity.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view'taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a viewin perspective, showing only one of the breast pockets and its associated elements in place.

Fig. 6 is another view in perspective showing only .the remaining breast pocket and its associated elements in place, the Figs. 5 and 6 representing a breakdown of the component elements shown in Fig. 1.

Referring moreparticularly to the drawings, the brassiere generally comprises a front body encircling band section -5, a' pair of breast pockets, generally indicated at 6 and 7, secured at their lower edges to the upper edge of front band section 5, as shown at 8, and side body encircling panels 9 having their forward vertical edges secured to the outer vertical edges of the front band section and adjacent breast pocket, as indicated at atent ICC 10. The rear portions (not' shown) of side panels 9 extend to the central section of the wearers back and are separably securable by any suitable fastening means.

As will be seen more clearly in Figs. 2 to 6 breast pockets 6 and 7 are provided with triangular gussets 15 and 16 respectively. Gusset '15 has one side edge se-.

cured along the inner marginal edge of the lower section 17 of breast pocket 6, as indicated at 18, (see Fig. 5) and its lower edge secured along the upper edge of front band section 5,as indicated at 8a, as a continuation of the securing of the breast pocket 6, indicated at 8: The third side edge of gusset 15 provides acontinuation of the inner edge of the upper section 19 of breast pocket 6. A breast contour or moulding band 20 of flexible material which may be elastic or inelastic, extends along thelength of and is secured to theinner edge of upper breast pocket section 19, as indicated at'21 and is also secured for a short distance to a portion of said third side edge of gusset 15 adjacent the upper pocket section 19;as indicated at 21a. The adjacent edge of band 20 beyond the secured portion 21a is slightly recessed; and is free of attachment to the third edge of gusset ,15 to provide a slot 22 extending substantially to the point of attachment of the gusset 15 to the front band section 5. The bottom portion of band 20 is slightly flared and is secured along its lower edge, as at 23 to the upper edge of the front band section 5 beyond the attachmen of the gusset 1 5 to said front band section. Fig. 6 illustrates the attachment of the breast pocket 7 and gusset 16 separately of the breast. pocket 6 and gusset 15. As will be seen, the lower section 25 "of breast pocket 11 has a gusset 16 secured thereto along: one side edge as indicated at 26. The lower edge of gusset 16 is secured to the front band section 5, as indicated at 85, as a continuation of'the securing of breast pocket 7 indicated at 8. The third" side edge of gus'se t, 16 provides a continuation of the inner edge of the upper breast pocket section 27. A breast contour of moulding band 28 of flexible material similar .to band 20, extends along the length of and is secured to'it he inner edge of upper breast pocket section 27,"'as in-f dicated at 29. At a point adjacent to the juncturefof upper pocket section 27 and gusset 16, the edge ofmould ing band 28 is slightly recessed. This recess extends along the length band 28 for a distance approximately equal'to the width of band 20 to provide a slot 30 which is free of attachment'to the adjacent edge portions of the upper breast pocket section 27 and gusset 16. Beyond slot 30 the moulding band 28 is secured to the edge of gusset 16 as indicated at 29a. 28 which is flared is also secured along its lower edge;

as at-31, to the upper edge of the front band section 5 beyond the attachment of the gusset 16 to the front ba'nd' section.

The upper ends of breast moulding bands 20 and 28 and the corresponding portions of the breast pockets 6 and 7 are connected to the front ends of shoulder straps 35 by means of a loo or doubled strap 34 and ad ustable connector 37. Shoulder straps 35 have their rear ends secured, as indicated at 36, to rearward portions of side panels 9.

By the combination of the showings in Figs. 5 and 6, it will be seen, as illustrated in Fig. 3, that a portion of gusset 16 will overlap a portion of gussetlS with the lower edges only of the overlapping portions united to eachother aswell as to the upper edge of front band section 5, that is to say by the securing indicated at 8d and 8b of the overlapping portions of the gussets 1 5 and 16. From Fig. 3 reference will be had to Figs. 2 and 4" which show that the breast moulding band 20 freely underlies the breast moulding band 28, emerges through slot 30 and freely overlies the gusset 16 which in turn ex- Patented Dec. 16, 1958- The bottom portion of band tends-through slot 22' beyond band 20 to freely overlie a portion of gusset 15. Breast moulding band 28 freely overlies that portion of gusset 15 adjacent the lower breast pocket section 17.

From the foregoing it will be seen that '(1) the lower breast pocket sections 17 and 25 are directly secured to the front band section 5 for a substantial portion of their width; (2) the gussets and 16, connected to breast pocket sections 17 and respectively, are also secured to front band section SWitha portion of gusset 16 freely overlapping a portion of gusset 15 excezt along their common securing points to the front band section 5; (3) the breast moulding bands 20 and 28, which extend along the inner edges of the breast pockets 6 and 7 respectively, freely cross one another intermediate their length-at the central portion of the brassiere and also freely overlie the gusset of the opposing breast pocket with their lower marginal portions secured to the front band section 5 at distances from the central portion of the brassiere well within the region of the opposing breast pocket; and (4) the upper marginal portions of breast moulding bands 20 and 28 and like portions of the corresponding pockets are secured to and supported by separate shoulder straps. With this comoination of elements arranged in the manner above described, a separate moulding pressure along the inner margin of each breast pocket cup is freely applied by the breast moulding bands 20 and 28. For example, if tension is applied by one shoulder strap to breast moulding band 20 at its upper end, the lower end of band 20, which is anchored to the front band section 5 beneath the opposing breast pocket 7, is restrained and thereby tends to draw the band 20 closely about the contour of the breast. Similarly, tension at the opposite ends of breast moulding band 28 produces a close moulding effect of said band about the contour of the second breast of the wearer. Thus a turning or a bending movement of the body, which would cause a gaping or bulge to the inner marginal portionof one or both breast pockets of a conventional brassiere, translates tensioning stresses to both ends of the breast moulding bands resulting in a contour fitting of the breast pockets along their inner marginal portions. As previously pointed out the application of the moulding pressure to one pocket is independent of any moulding pressure to the other because of the relative freedom of movement between the breast mou.ding bands.

What I claim is:

1. In a brassiere, a front body band section, a first breast pocket secured at its lower edge to the upper edge of the front body band section, a first-side panel secured 1 to the outer side edge of said first breast pocket and adjacent side'edge of the body band section and extending rearwardly, a first shoulder strap having one end secured to the upper end of said first breast pocket and the other end secured to theassociated side panel, a second breast pocket secured at its lower edge to the upper edged the front body band section so that an inner'lower portion of said second breast pocket freely overlaps an inner lower portion of said first breast pocket except where said portions are secured to said front body band section, a second side panel secured to the outer side edge of said second breast pocket and adjacent side edge of the body band section and extending rearwardly, a second shoulder strap having one end secured to the upper end of said second breast pocket and the other end secured to the associated second side panel, a separately formed first breast moulding band secured along one side edge for a substantial length to the inner edge of the first breast pocket and extending the full length of the inner edge of said first breast pocket, the said first breast moulding band having its lower end portion paralleling but free of attachment to the adjacent inner edge of the lower portion of the first breast pocket but being secured throughout the remainder of its length to said first breast pocket, a separately formed second breast moulding band secured along one side edge to the inner edge of the second breast pocket and extending the full length of the inner edge of said second breastpocket, the said second breast moulding band having an intermediate portion thereof free of attachment to the second breast pocket but being secured to the inner edge of said second breast pocket along the portions of its length located above and below the intermediate portion free of attachment, said first breast moulding band having an intermediate portion directly above its free lower end portion disposed beneath and free of attachment to the free intermediate portion of the second breast moulding band, said brassiere being further characterized in that the said lower end portion of the first breast moulding band freely overlies the inner lower portion of the second breast pocket and is secured along its lower end edge to the upper edge of the front body band section and in that the lower end portion of the second breast moulding band freely overlies the inner lower portion of the first reast pocket and is secured along its lower end edge to the upper edge of said body band section.

2. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1, in which said first and second breast pockets each include an upper section having an inner side edge inclined from the upper edge toward the central portion of the brassiere, a lower section having its inner side edge divergently inclined from the juncture with the inner edge of the upper section toward the front body band section, and a substantially triangular gusset having one side edge secured along the diverging inner edge of the associated lower breast pocket section the base edge secured to the upper edge of said front body section, the remaining edge being coextensive with and being secured along a portion of said first breast moulding band but being free of attachment from said free lower end portion of the first breast moulding band, said first breast pocket free gusset portion freely underlying the second breast pocket gusset, the remaining edge of the second breast pocket gusset being coextensive with and secured along the inner edge of said second breast moulding band from directly below the free intermediate portion of said second breast moulding band to the secured lower edge thereof, the portion of said remaining edge of the second breast pocket gusset which is co-extensive with the free intermediate portion of said second breast moulding band being free of attachment with said brassiere.

3. A brassiere as set forth in claim 2, in which said second breast pocket gusset extends between the free adjacent edges of the first breast moulding band and the first breast pocket gusset and freely overlies the said last mentioned gusset.

4. A brassiere as setforth in claim 1, in which the end of each shoulder strap secured to the upper end of its associated breast pocket is also secured to the upper end of the associated breast moulding band.

5. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1, in which said breast moulding bands are of inelastic material.

6. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1, in which said breast moulding bands are of a flexible material.

7. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1, in which said breast moulding bands are of an elastic material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,958,963 De Got May 15, 1934 2,468,621 Glick Apr. 26, 1949 2,746,053 Krieger May 22 1956 

